New York Times: Asia Argento, #MeToo leader, paid her own sexual assault accuser

Actress and filmmaker Asia Argento has found herself on the other side of the #MeToo conversation.

The New York Times reported Sunday that months after publicly accusing Harvey Weinstein of rape, Argento made a deal with a young actor who accused her of sexual assault.

Argento was among the first women to accuse now disgraced movie mogul Weinstein of sexual misconduct and has been a leading figure in the #MeToo movement.

The New York Times says it has lawyers’ documents showing that actor and musician Jimmy Bennett alleged Argento sexually assaulted him in 2013 when he was 17 and she was 37.

According to the publication Bennett said the assault took place at a hotel in California, where the age of consent is 18. Bennett played Argento’s son in the 2004 movie “The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.”

The Times reported they received the documents “through encrypted email by an unidentified party,” and that they included “a selfie dated May 9, 2013, of the two lying in bed.”

“As part of the agreement, Mr. Bennett, who is now 22, gave the photograph and its copyright to Ms. Argento, now 42,” the story said. “Three people familiar with the case said the documents were authentic.”

Bennett reportedly asked Argento for $3.5 million in damages, a month after she spoke out about Weinstein last October and that Argento later arranged to pay Bennett $380,000.

The first installment was made in April 2018, the New York Times said.

The publication said it had been attempting to reach Argento for comment since last Thursday with no success. It said a woman in the office of her lawyer, Carrie Goldberg, said the attorney would not be available for comment.

Bennett would not agree to be interviewed by the New York Times. His attorney Gordon K. Sattro sent an email to the publication. “In the coming days,” Sattro wrote, “Jimmy will continue doing what he has been doing over the past months and years, focusing on his music.”

In a statement to CNN Monday, Sattro asked for privacy for his client.

“At this time, our client, Jimmy Bennett, does not wish to comment on the documents or the events discussed in the New York Times article yesterday evening,” the statement read. “While we realize that the news cycle demands an immediate response, many times, people need more than a few minutes or hours to respond. We are asking that you give our client some time and space.”

“Jimmy is going to take the next 24 hours, or longer, to prepare his response,” the statement added. “We ask that you respect our client’s privacy during this time. My office will reach out once he is prepared to deliver his official response.”

CNN has also reached out to Goldberg as well as other representatives for Argento and Bennett for comment.

Bourdain and Argento met while in Rome filming an episode of his CNN show, “Parts Unknown,” and he was one of her most ardent supporters after she went public with her allegations against Weinstein.

“I stand unhesitatingly and unwaveringly with the women,” Bourdain wrote in December 2017. “Not out of virtue, or integrity, or high moral outrage — as much as I’d like to say so — but because late in life, I met one extraordinary woman with a particularly awful story to tell, who introduced me to other extraordinary women with equally awful stories.”

Actress Rose McGowan, who was closely aligned with Argento as a fellow Weinstein accuser, tweeted about the New York Times report Monday.

“I got to know Asia Argento ten months ago,” McGowan tweeted. “Our commonality is the shared pain of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. My heart is broken. I will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere.”